A Voice Is Comforting
by Lyrieux
Summary: The Dark tale behind the suicide of Draco Malfoy. What drove him there and what did he leave behind the night he drank poison? Riddles and mysteries now lay at Malfoy Manor only accompanied by the dead and a broken heart.
1. Forever And Always

_**Forever and Always**_

I remember that day so clearly. _So clearly..._ Its like a permanent marker has etched its way over my mind and imprinted something which will always be there, never to be forgotten. Never, for as long as I walk this planet, will that day... _that evening_... be forgotten.

My name? Maura. It is a name of dark origin, much like my family; whom are long dead. They're death was within the great war; the final confrontation of the Dark Lord. I cannot remember much, since things more dark and more sinister have happened since then. Not to everyone; just myself and the one person whom I have always loved... _forever and always._

I was taken. Taken on the eve of our wedding. Taken by the last remaining Death Eaters, still loyal to the Dark Lord. The reason is still not known to me, but many things have happened since then. My fiancée... _Draco;_I heard many a terrifying story of how my absence sent him crazy; sent him insane while I was being held captive.

A dark room was all I can remember. A dark room; being shackled to the wall by my ankles and wrists. Still the burns from struggling throb, even now as I walk through the rain. The stories they told me, of how Draco had gone insane, of how he had murdered people in anger; his longing to get me back was intense; they hold my thoughts captive... my mind is their slave. I also heard that he had committed suicide... but that I cant believe... _my heart wont allow me to believe._

* * *

><p>After three years... Three long years of torture they let me free. I was literally thrown from the dark room and out into the cold countryside. I didn't know where I was... <em>I still don't.<em> Yesterday was my day of release and I find myself walking through the heavy rain in the vague direction of Malfoy Manor. There I hope to find Draco and be reunited again; _my heart longs for his touch..._I cannot bear another day away from him; but my Magic is weak. I have to walk. Walk the way in which I feel to be right.

The rain still falls and my thoughts turn to that of Draco's parents. They moved to Peru a while ago, three weeks after we announced our engagement. Whereas Narcissa wanted everything to do with it... Lucius protested. He did not want to be involved; but he didn't say no the the idea. They're moving left Malfoy Manor to Draco, where we would both live before and after the wedding; which we would do in secret. We didn't want a big celebration.

As I turn a bend in the long road I am walking along, in the middle of endless fields and landscape still recovering from the war, I remember my wedding dress. Its yet another vivid picture within my mind. Black lace and long fabric... slim fitting and elegant. It was nothing fancy, but to us it was perfect. I left it in my dressing room, in the corner on a mannequin. _My dressing room._.. Nothing much was in there: Clothes, obviously, and a dressing table covered in brightly coloured bottles of perfume and whatnot. _ I miss home... I miss the manor... I miss Draco..._

Fatigue was setting in. I was weak already but the rain and freezing cold was wearing me down and my legs began to feel wobbly. Staggering to the side of the deserted road, I sat down and looked to the sky. There was no sign on the rain letting up. I was cold, wet, tired and lonely. I would do anything to be back at the manor, curled up in Draco's arms in front of the large fireplace in the main room. But no... I was still in the rain. Only now, I had begun to walk again and the small village in which the manor was near was upon my horizon.

My pace somehow quickened. I was now running although still unsteady on my feet. I called out; no-one was there. No-one was ever there. The village folk nearly always kept themselves to themselves; _except this time._ An elderly looking man walked over to where I had just collapsed.  
>"You're the late Malfoy's girl..." he said, somewhat leaning over me.<p>

"I am..." My mind then adjusted to what he has said, "_Late?_"

"Ah yes, the young lad missed you so much... it sent him insane lass. _Completely insane..._He killed the pub landlord because he became convinced it was him that took you; no-one could tell him otherwise. The butcher is also dead... Malfoy had him too. Poor Malcolm... He was found pinned to the wall in the Butcher's shop cellar; pinned to the wall by the very knives he used to slice the meat. His death looked slow. There was something sick going on in Malfoy's mind that night... blood scattered the floor in every direction and Malcolm's rib cage had been split open, revealing all. It was not a healthy sight. Number three then died. Sgt. Peter Goodfellow, our local police officer. He was the first to find Malcolm. The mere sight of it sent him insane and he committed suicide off River Bridge the same day. Then... After all the murder and all of the heartache, he took his own life. He couldn't cope without you lass. No-one knows exactly how he did it. Nobody knows if he actually did really..." He paused to ponder for a moment, "He probably did though, nobody has seen or heard from him in well over two years."

I could find no words to use. _Draco...please... no..._ I staggered up off my feet and meandered my way down the cobbled street towards the woods. I would have to go through the woods to find the grounds of the manor... _Draco... please be there... please..._The road seemed to go on forever in my blurred vision. I felt myself swaying from side to side as each of my legs took turns to move forward. They felt like lead-weights...

* * *

><p>Time passed slowly and I finally reached the iron gates leading into the long drive of the manor. The hedge either side of them had not been tamed in a long while; its leaves and branches were sticking out making them look long forgotten. The iron gates themselves were laced with spider's webs and were eroded from the rain. Finding the strength, I threw the charm at the gates and after a bit of a struggle, they lurched open; breaking some of the webs which had lashed them together.<p>

I caught my breath before making my way up the long driveway towards the grey-stoned manor house. Even a few years ago it looked somewhat warm, even with its dark appearance: But now it looked plain cold and forgotten. The windows had frosted over so much, along with dust and cobwebs, you couldn't see through them at all and they seemed to only let in a little light. Parts of the outer walls has begun to crack and it was obvious a few roof tiles we're missing since they we're smashed all over the doorstep and various other places around the exterior of the manor.

The place in which I once called home now looked uninhabited and frightening. My mind brought up an image of an old haunted house out of a movie Draco and I once watched... I remember being so terrified I hid my face into his chest... _memories._The manor was now a place of death and destruction in my eyes. A thick mist weaved its way around my ankles as I stepped onto the doorstep and brushed away more cobwebs from the doorknob. More of them stuck to my torn clothes as I pushed the door open. It was stiff, and let out a large creak as it moved; the hinges were rusted.

My heart was not ready for what I saw inside. Everything was as it was all those years ago, only there was a thick coat of dust over all the furniture and cobwebs which looked as dense as snow hung and clung to the ceiling, candles and various other things. It was eerie; every step I took was met by an echo much greater than the initial sound. The echo seemed to ring on for an unmeasurable amount of time... _ I used to think the graveyard and Crypt in the western grounds of the manor was eerie... _This was much more so.

My mind then turned to Draco and an immediate adrenaline rush filled my veins; I felt no more pain, no more fatigue, no more stress. I ran through various webs towards the main room, where I could see the glow of a fire. Inside was _exactly _how it was left... there was no dust, no webs... _no Draco. It was impossible to have lived in just this room... _The kitchen was on the other side of the manor and looking at the state of what I had just walked through, I would put a bet on the rest of the manor looking the same.

"D-Draco...?" I called out, quietly at first. When I didn't get an answer, I called out louder. Still there was no reply. I looked around the room, which had been kept warm and cosy... Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a letter written on a piece of yellowed parchment in black ink. Picking it up, I sat onto the sofa and crossed my legs; ready to read it. I expected it to say that he had popped out... that he would be back soon...

"_Dear the reader,  
>By the time you have read this letter, I would have left. Left this god-forsaken world as we know it... Even as I sit here now, listening to her sing lullabies with her angelic voice, I feel pain through my heart. My dear Maura... my dear, dear Maura... Why we're you taken from me? We were due to get married, just one day later than that evening in which you we're snatched from my very arms.<em>

_Her voice has been a comfort throughout this dark time. I am now glad of those recordings I took... I knew I would need them one day... but never did my mind even begin to comprehend that I would ever need them in this way. I have tried to stay sane... but those notes I know all too well are of no comfort to me any longer. I feel angered towards everything and my mind cannot cope any more. I fear that my dear Maura is no longer on this earth, and therefore I believe that I should not be either._

_I am holding a silver goblet in my left hand, its contents is of a type of poison I have held, with an interest of studying it, for a long time. I feel that now is my time to leave this earth... If I cannot have my dear Maura, then I see no point in walking this earth any longer._

_So I shall leave you. I must now make my way into the crypt where I will lie on the stone floor and await my end. The poison is now taking effect and I can feel my throat burning. If, by whatever miracle that my dear Maura is reading this, then remember that I love you; forever and always; and that a voice is comforting, even when everything seems dark and haunting. I will always be there for you... even if I am not in the flesh... there are ways around things..._

_For now, I leave my mystery behind. As the manor has been changed into a riddle. Each clue will lead you closer, closer... ever closer."_

I felt tears strolling down my cheeks. _He was dead..._I cried out as my heart rebelled with pain. I screwed up the letter and threw it into the fire before me. That's why everything was so dust-covered, why no-one had seen him. The letter was dated two years ago...

I had heard of black magic that can bring loved ones back... but it is a magic so dense and so unpredictable that people have died painful deaths trying. This is what I will try. I will find the clues, I will solve the riddles, I will find where my love lies on the cold stone floor of the crypt; locked away from me, with no key in which to use.

I pull my knees into my chest. _I will find you... I love you... forever and always... _It was then that I felt a cool breeze creep its way over my body; making my eyes water. I looked around, but nothing could be seen. I closed my eyes and tried to forget... But I could feel tortured spirits around me, I could feel the pain, I could feel the fear.  
><strong><br>"_Maura..."_**

I sat bolt upright at the sound of my name roll off icy lips. The voice sounded pained and distant.

"Hello?" I said aloud, but nothing replied. I knew I was alone in the manor; I was the only one that was alive.

**"_Maura..."_**

I shut my eyes and tried to concentrate on the voice. It sounded somewhat familiar. _Remember that a voice is comforting... a voice is comforting..._

"Draco?"


	2. The Mirror To Your Soul

_**The Mirror To Your Soul**_

"Draco?" I called out again. I was frightened. _But you're dead... how can I be hearing your voice?_

**"A voice is comforting, Maura..."**

There was the voice again. I drew my knees closer into my chest and began to cry; between sobs I would ask the air; _why? Why did all of this happen to us? _My crying out did me no favors. The only replies I received were that of echoes of my own voice and sounds not made from me at all.

_**"Maura... please... listen..."**_

I cupped my hands over my ears and rocked back and forth. _Leave me alone..._I had never believed in the afterlife and I certainly wasn't about to have a conversation with a supposed dead person... Either that or someone was playing a retched prank.

_**"Maura... A voice is comforting... Mirrors, Maura... mirrors..." **_

Mirrors? What is this person... or thing, trying to tell me? _I feel lost and confused, tired and lonely... when will all of this end?_ In protest of the voice I stood up and made my way out of the main room and down the dark hallway, a candle in hand, to see if I could find any of these _riddles_in which my dear Draco wrote about. None of the electrics were working at all, no matter how many light switches I tried.

_**"Maura..."**_

I tried to block out the voices. I knew deep down in my blackened heart that the voice sounded so much like Draco's, but I just couldn't believe it... _Me and my dammed beliefs._I carried on walking; through the winding halls with doors leading off every-now-and-again, until I came to my dressing room. Cautiously, I opened the door and peered my head around it, looking into what once was so warm. The room itself was now very cold and haunting; cobwebs were hanging from the ceiling and dust has formed a protective layer over everything.

On my dressing table; the bottles of perfume were still in their places, each covered in a thickened layer of dust; each joined by a web or two. The room smelt somewhat aged; you know that smell that accompanies an old building, like.. say... one from the Victorian age? That smell that is always there and you cannot get rid of?_ That _smell. I used the candle I was already carrying to light a few more that were stored in a small cupboard in the corner of the room, and placed them onto the dressing table, being careful not to catch any webs alight.

Since the room was now much more illuminated; I could see, tucked away in another corner, _my wedding dress._Still as the night it sat there on the mannequin, untouched for so long. The various spiders that had now laced it over with their webs had almost added to its beauty; putting a contrast of pale silver to the black of its own material. Walking over, I hovered my hand as if I was going to touch the material, then withdrew. There was a metallic sound coming from near the dressing table. Not one of someone knocking, but a sound that water might make if it was dripping onto ice which was as cold as the dark-side of the moon and as hard and steel.

Slowly, I turned. There was nothing there. Again whatever it was is hiding from me. _Maybe you're hallucinating, Maura. You're going insane too... _I told myself to stop. Stop myself from saying such things; it was as if I was bullying myself. There. The sound again. Only this time I span around to face the mirror. Draco's mother, Narcissa, had bought it long ago and put it into this dressing room because there was more space for it. Now it was covered over with a large, heavy curtain but I remember exactly what it used to look like. It was floor-length, with a gold-coloured frame; with mysterious looking gemstones and jewels following a pattern within it. It used to shine when the lights were on, and when it reflected the light the room seemed so much bigger, so much lighter. I missed its light.

A random impulse told me to whip the curtain off the mirror; so I did. Dust and cobwebs were swept into the air by the sudden movement of the curtain, creating a whirlwind of silver and grey which did not settle back to the ground. Instead it continued to whirl around me, sticking to my clothes and whatever else got into its way. My eyes then met the mirror itself. Within it, I couldn't see the cobweb's whirring around, nor could I see any of the furniture. All I could see was the vague outline of myself, and what appeared to be a void of darkness. If I was more into my fantasy novels, I would have called it a vortex or a portal into a darker, more sinister world. I stared into the blackness for a long while, before something started to appear.

_**"Maura..."**_

Two ice-cold eyes were the first thing I saw, followed by pale white hair. Then came the rest of the person's body; a very pale face and long figure, very skinny and pained-looking. The spectre was wearing a long black cloak, with a tight white shirt and black trousers; a cummerbund was also being worn, black in colour. He looked smart and somewhat familiar. A mask covered his face; again it was black. I could identify, by what he was wearing and his body shape, that he was male. His left arm outstretched, towards me; his eyes more intense.

**_"Maura..."_**

I was startled and staggered backwards, where I fell over onto my backside. I stared at the spectre in the mirror, and the candles blew out due to an icy breeze that suddenly whisked around.

_**"Maura..."**_

This is the spectre that had been calling me all along. I didn't know how to react to the situation. I was being called by a _ghost_in the mirror... in a mirror!

_**"Maura... please... speak to me..."**_He called out. His voice sounded as if it was coming through white noise and was painfully eerie.

"What do you want from me?" I asked, somewhat crawling backwards.  
><strong><em><br>"You... I want you, Maura... I miss you..."_**

"How do you know my name? You miss me? I've never met you!" I cried out, pinning myself up against the wall behind me, still on the dusted floor. The cobwebs had finally settled and were creating a carpet of white.

_**"Did you not read my letter, dear Maura?..."**_

I then realised. _Surely it couldn't be?_

"Draco?..." My voice crumbled as I spoke, tears coming back and flooding my eyes.

_**"Maura, it's been so long... I love you... I love you, Maura..."**_

"Where are you? Why are you in there?... Draco, come back... please." I sobbed. Looking up at his masked face. "Why are you masked? Why are you dressed like that?"

**_"So many questions and so little time. I'm... dead, Maura... as I'm sure you know from the letter in which broke my heart to write... I am in the mirror, because it is where I have been trapped. I am not allowed to leave the Manor, therefore I have been encased in here, where I cannot get free, not for now anyway. Maura, solve the riddles it will allow me to get free... at least then I will be able to hold you again... Maura I still love you, even now in death. I am dressed like this because it is what reflects my soul; dark and mysterious, and somewhat dangerous." _**He placed his one hand onto the guard of a sword, which was strapped to his hip,_** "My mask? … Maura, would you still love me if I did not look as I once did? I was punished for my wrong decisions in life..." **_He stopped and looked longingly out of the mirror, at me and the room in which I was in. He then raised his hand up to his mask and held it against it. **_"I am a monster..."_**He slowly began to back off into the darkness behind him, his head bowed, eyes looking to his feet.

"Draco, no! Come back.. I need you..." I called out, but he did not stop. He was engulfed by the darkness within just a few seconds, leaving me alone. "Please..."

* * *

><p>I walked out of the dressing room; <em>you need to find the riddles, Maura... that way, you'll be able to see him again... he should show himself again... maybe help this time... <em>I tripped over a wooden box in which was in the middle of the hallway and landed flat on my stomach. Instead of my eyes being drawn to the object in which I had tripped over, they were drawn to a small blue light coming through the floorboards. It was small and still at first, but as I became more interested in what it was, it began to move; leaving a trail of blue light. The trial of blue light began to form the shape of letters, swirling and twisting in a calligraphic manner. After a few minutes of watching it, the light itself faded leaving behind one word written in the unnatural blue light; _Library._Before launching myself up off my stomach and dashing down the hallway towards the other end of the manor, towards the library, I picked up the wooden box.

Once in the library, I placed the small box onto the table in the centre of the room; I had found the box was locked on the way. The library was filled to the ceiling with bookcases; each crammed with books old and new. There was a particular section which had always interested me, but I was not heading that way. I merely sat at the table and looked around; I didn't know where to start. Then, from behind me, there was the sound of a book hitting the floor. I stood up and span around, focusing my eyes on the direction in which I heard the noise echo from. Slowly, I stalked my way towards the noises origin. I had learnt, during the war, that rushing into something could prove fatal. I laughed to myself; I had become somewhat of a ninja during the war. I would sneak over rooftops dressed in nothing but black clothing, running up walls and gliding off cliffs; although I didn't have a katana, my wand was enough.

There was nothing around where the book had fallen. No person, nothing which could have knocked it off... jut the book itself, lying on the floor, its pages spread. Carefully, I picked up the old book and read the pages in which were, until a mere moment ago, face down onto the cold tiles. They spoke of ghouls and goblins, ghosts and demons, angels and higher powers. Most of it would have been nonsense to me up until today... I would have brushed the existence of ghosts away without a second thought, but now...

I continued to read the pages. At the bottom of the second it stated the existence of black roses. Roses so dark in power that they can do dangerous but marvellous things. Unlike the familiar red rose, the black rose has powers unknown to many people, and that they can be used for deeds in which many a person would go insane thinking of.

I pondered for a moment before closing the book and placing it back onto the bookshelf, in the place in which I thought it had fallen from; but as I turned around, it fell back onto the floor again, showing the pages in which I had just read upwards. _How could that be?_ I had securely placed it back onto the bookshelf. I picked the book up again and this time, a small key fell out of its pages; one which I presume was not there before. I once again put the book onto the bookshelf and then picked up the key. _I wonder..._

I moved back towards the wooden box in which I had placed upon the table in the middle of the library. Using the key in which had just found me, I unlocked its rusty lock and gently removed it. I took in a breath and looked away before opening it. Once I felt that the lid was open, I turned my head and looked at the contents; a single black rose, lay within the box which was lined in black silk. I picked it up, and I was immediately filled with the overwhelming feeling of sorrow.

A blue light; much like the one that appeared in the hallway before, was now in the lid of the box; writing again. This time, it was a much longer passage than just the one word.

_What makes you feel this feeling when you walk across its grounds?  
>What makes you feel this feeling when your lover is six feet down?<em>

I thought to myself before closing the lid of the box and walking off; out of the library. I knew where I had to go, the passage had told me so. I was feeling sorrow; you feel sorrow in the grounds of a cemetery which is where bodies of loved ones lie in their graves six feet down. I was heading for the graveyard and the crypt; the more haunting and devilish side of the manor.

* * *

><p>It was still raining outside. The rain reflected my sorrow and I could feel the rain being accompanied by my own tears. I walked through the overgrown grass and past the lake, through the small woods and down a path made of the skulls of victims and past owners who betrayed their family; <em>The Malfoy's.<em> It was now that the tall iron gates made themselves seen; covered in webs and overgrown ivy. One of the gates was always left ajar, so I silently slipped through the small gap and carried on my journey. In the centre of the overgrown graveyard; covered by trees and grass up to you knees; was an overpowering statue of the Grim Reaper. _Appropriate._I reached the centre and stood silently next to the statue, wondering which was to go next. The worn cobbled paths, now covered in moss and ivy, stretched out in each direction of the compass and the spaces between them were filled with graves and memorials. Each path lead to a different crypt; each one for a different era; the earliest being that on the left, and the latest being that on the right, and all between. I knew for a fact that the two right-most crypts were not yet used, they were for the future generations of the Malfoy family; if there were ever going to be any.

I counted two back from the right and made my down the path towards the blackest looking crypt; its exterior walls were a darkened grey with gargoyles of snakes and demons perched outside. It was the largest crypt there and could easily be compared to the west-wing of the Manor itself, in size. There would be enough space in there for the entire Malfoy family alive now, twice over. I knew that each person would have their own vault within the crypt, I would just have to try and enter Draco's. Carefully, I turned the dulled silver handle on the entrance door to the crypt, and slid inside.

The interior was as dull and as cold as the exterior. Dark stone walls were cold and unwelcoming and the sound of me stepping onto the concrete below my feet echoed eerily. _At least it wasn't damp in there._As I walked further down the corridor, candles which were mounted to the wall began to light themselves, so I could see where I was going much easier, even if it did add even more of a spooky tone to the place.

The various Vaults branched off left and right, but they weren't the ones I wanted. Each door into them was insane in size and far too big to be considered a mere door. Each looked more like a grand entrance into a castle with finely decorated hinges and doorknobs, door-frames and gargoyles. They were staggered along each wall, so no door was opposite another. Each door seemed to have some sort of puzzle to solve in order to get inside; those that were in use anyway. The ones that we're not in use did not have such puzzles or riddles upon them. _A pattern?_I walked to the end of the corridor, where the last vault presented itself to me; large black doors with silver engraves accents. Snakes and serpents were the engraved decoration into both the silver and the black; could this be the place?

I approached the door and attempted to turn the handle. It wouldn't budge. Instead, the same blue light from earlier appeared and wrote yet another passage, this time upon the doors;

_One for sorrow,  
>One for love,<br>One like a screen,  
>One like a dove,<br>One to house light,  
>One to feel pain,<br>One to be together again._

It was staggered across the doors. Each part of the poem or riddle was glowing in blue above a small ledge. I couldn't work it out. It seemed that each line of the poem was a riddle in its own rights. I clutched the rose, re-reading the poem over and over, both aloud and in my head.

_**"One line at a time..."**_

"Draco?" I called out, as if to greet his voice, but there was nothing more. _One line at a time?_ _One for sorrow..._ Sorrow... I was feeling sorrow, and I felt it the moment I picked up the rose. _Perhaps...? _I took a step to the left and placed the black rose onto the small ledge below the first line of the poem. Almost immediately after I did so, a case slowly materialised over the rose, as if to keep it safe. _That's what I have to do!_ I thought to myself. There must surely be a rose for each of the ledges... for each of the lines in the poem! Momentarily I felt overjoyed with myself but it soon faded, as I did not know where to start. _I need to find Draco... I need a mirror..._


End file.
